The present invention relates to an electric disk brake for generating a braking force by means of an electric motor provided in a caliper body.
An example of a conventional electric disk brake is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Public Disclosure No. 2002-013562. In the electric disk brake of this document, electric portions for an electric motor provided in a caliper body (such as a stator coil of the electric motor and a rotation sensor) and a predetermined number of wires provided in a harness which supplies driving currents to the electric portions, and which conducts signal transmission from the electric portions, are connected and disconnected by means of a connector. The connector comprises a caliper body-side connector (a receptacle) provided in the caliper body and a harness-side connector (a plug) provided in the harness.
The caliper body-side connector includes a predetermined number of lead-out terminals which are connected through wires to the electric portions for the electric motor. The lead-out terminals are connected to and disconnected from harness-side terminals connected to the predetermined number of wires provided in the harness, due to connection and disconnection between the caliper body-side connector and the harness-side connector.
In this electric disk brake, the harness can be easily detached from the caliper body, so that the harness does not become obstructive during attachment of the caliper body to a vehicle, or during maintenance or inspection, thus improving operability.
However, the above-mentioned conventional electric disk brake has the following problems. The harness is provided at a central portion of the caliper body as viewed in a direction of rotation of the disk, and extends obliquely in an upward direction relative to an axial direction of the disk. This increases the length of the caliper body, including the harness, in the axial direction of the disk. To solve this problem, it is considered to arrange the harness to extend in one direction of rotation of the disk in parallel with the disk surface. In this case, however, when the electric disk brake is mounted for each of the left and right wheels, the harness of the electric disk brake for the left wheel and the harness of the electric disk brake for the right wheel extend in different directions. That is, in the above-mentioned electric disk brake, if the harness extends towards the front side of the vehicle when the electric brake is mounted for the right wheel, the harness extends towards the rear side of the vehicle when the electric disk brake is mounted for the left wheel. Therefore, the above-mentioned electric disk brake is problematic in that when the disk brake is mounted for each of the left wheel and the right wheel, a wiring operation for the harnesses cannot be easily conducted. It is desirable to solve this problem.
As a countermeasure, it is considered to prepare a caliper body and a harness both exclusive for each of the left wheel and the right wheel so that the harness of the electric disk brake mounted for the left wheel and the harness of the electric disk brake mounted for the right wheel extend in the same direction. In this case, however, a plurality of types of components (i.e., caliper bodies and harnesses) must be prepared; with the result that production efficiency is impaired. Therefore, the above-mentioned countermeasure is not satisfactory.